A rare case of pure-type embryonal carcinoma mimicking epithelial ovarian carcinoma in a 75-year-old woman

Abstract

Embryonal carcinoma, a very rare ovarian germ cell tumor, has pure and mixed phenotypes. Pure-type embryonal carcinoma has nev-er been reported in postmenopausal women. The current case was, thus, misdiagnosed as an epithelial ovarian carcinoma based on radiological findings. Herein, we describe the case of ovarian embryonal carcinoma in a 75-year-old woman along with a literature review. Magnetic resonance imaging findings were suggestive of an epithelial ovarian malignancy associated with endometrioma, including ureteral invasion. The patient underwent complete surgical staging. A pathological diagnosis of pure-type embryonal carcinoma was made. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful, and adjuvant chemotherapy was administered. Embryonal carcinoma in postmenopausal women is a clinical challenge owing to the possibility of its misdiagnosis as epithelial ovarian carcinoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on pure-type ovarian embryonal carcinoma in a postmenopausal woman, with a de-scription of the clinicopathological characteristics and review of the relevant literature.